Harry Potter and the Spawn of Satan
by InsanityInside
Summary: HPGood Omens crossover. Adam goes to Hogwarts, Hogwarts goes crazy. Not as stupid and plotless as it sounds, but it does involve flying fish, CrumpleHorned Snorcacks and a very confused Draco
1. The End is just the Beginning

_Disclaimer: ok... I own nothing. Not even the disclaimer :P _

**1. The End is just the Beginning**

Newton Pulsifer and Anathema Device decided they did not want to be descendants for the rest of their lives. They agreed that they would never read 'Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter'. If they did, they would find out that

_When the Ende endeth, a new Beginninge sharl beginne,_

_For what He dreams, is true for Them._

_Birds of the Nighte sharl bring the news_

_And Hogge Warts sharl teach Them alle They need to knowe._

_And there sharl be chaos,_

_And strange thinges sharl happen,_

_For what He believes, is true for Them…_

And so on…

XXX

Adam Young closed the book. He didn't normally read many books, but these were very interesting. And so this was the fifth book he had read since the day when the end of the world hadn't come. For a while he thought he wished the world inside the book was real, and that he was a wizard. Then he realised what he had just thought. And, since he already had saved the world once this summer, he decided that he'd had enough strange adventures for a while and right now he'd rather be a normal boy instead. But every eleven-year-old child sometimes wishes they could do magic just for a while. And this while was enough…

XXX

Newt walked into the room just in time to see Anathema take her head out of the fireplace. He had heard her talking to someone, but she appeared to be alone. This was strange. Well, this was not the first strange thing that happened to him. He had been a witchfinder(1) for a while. Than he had found the witch. And she had helped him, and they had helped stop the end of the world. And then they somehow found themselves living together and actually enjoying it. That is quite a lot of strange things to happen in such a short time. But some people just can't get used to it when their lives suddenly become interesting.

'What are you doing?' he asked, slightly shocked.

'I think I've got a new job' she said.

'Oh, that's great! Where?'

* * *

(1)The Witchfinder Army is an organisation that fights witches. If they find any. Usually they don't. Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell claims there are quite a lot of witchfinders (Some of them have names like Tin or Milk, many are called Smith, and probably even more don't have names.), the truth is that there are two of them. 

XXX

Our story begins(2) on a dark and stormy night. A dark and stormy night is quite a good time for a story to begin. But the owl flying through the rain with a large envelope tied to its legs wished it wasn't a dark and stormy night. It was rather cold and very wet, and, of course, it is not easy to fly in such a strong wind. But it had a letter to deliver…

* * *

(2)Er… I mean _really _begins. The part before was just the… well… beginning. You know what I mean… 

XXX

The dark and stormy night was over and Adam hadn't even noticed the storm. When he woke up, it was already over. He looked at the window and there was no sign of it outside at all. Well, maybe except for the owl sitting on the window-sill, looking as if it had just flown through a tornado. A very wet tornado. The owl appeared to have something tied to its legs…

'Oh my…!' said Adam and hesitated. It sounds kind of weird when the Antichrist says 'oh my God'.

The boy opened the window and let the bird in. It did indeed have a letter tied to its legs.

'Wow!' said Adam 'An owl with a letter! Just like in the book!'

XXX

'Are you sure it was a right thing to do, Headmaster?'

Albus Dumbledore thought about it. It seemed perfectly normal. The boy was eleven years old, British and, kind of , magical… it was a slightly different kind of magic, but how bad can that be?

'Yes,' said the headmaster 'I think we _must_ give the boy a chance to - '

'But you know what… who this child is! Are you sure he can be trusted… '

'I trust him' said Dumbledore

'You trust _everybody_'

'Yes, I do. And I am usually right. And besides, our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher says Mr. Young is actually a really nice boy'

'And who _is_ this new teacher?' This question just had to be asked. The last five people teaching the subject had been a man with Voldemort sitting inside his head, an idiot, a werewolf, a crazy Death Eater pretending to be a paranoid Auror and…er… well… Professor Umbridge…

XXX

Adam didn't know what to do. For a few weeks he had been sure he was just an ordinary boy. During the week before those few weeks he had not been ordinary, but now, he thought, everything was supposed to be back to normal. And he was just a boy, and his friends were just kids, and Dog (his dog) was just a dog. And everything. The end of the world was over and he was _not _the Antichrist any more. And things didn't happen just because he thought about them too much. And he was not a wizard either. Or was he? But why? He hadn't even wanted it to happen… well, all right, maybe a bit…

But how was he going to tell his parents about it? How was he going to tell his friends that he had to leave them? How was he going to get all the necessary things… the wand, the books…? He really didn't know what to do. He needed someone to help him. But who…?

XXX

As Adam walked through Lower Tadfield towards Jasmine Cottage, he was very sad, happy and confused at the same time. He was confused, because anyone would be if they suddenly found out that they can do magic and the story they had just read turned out to be real. This was why he needed to talk to Anathema. She was a witch. Well, sort of… Anyway, the boy thought she just might be able to help him. He was happy because most kids would be if they were just about to start learning magic. He was also a little sad, because he liked it here, in his town and wasn't sure he wanted to leave it. And he would miss his friends. Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian were probably not going with him. This felt very strange. Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian had _always_ gone with him _everywhere_. How was he going to tell them that…

And then he saw them. All three of them were standing in front of Anathema's house, talking about something, each of them holding something in their hands. Something that looked very much like the letter he had got this morning!

'Hi, Adam!' they all shouted. They seemed very relieved to see him. They knew Adam always knew what to do. Except this time.

'Hi' said Adam 'What's up?'

'I got this letter this morning -' Pepper started talking.

'Yeah, we _all_ got those letters -' Brian interrupted her.

'It says I'm a witch' Pepper continued 'An' Brian an' Wensley are wizards, an' - '

'But it can't be true, can it?' said Wensleydale 'There is no magic - '

'Well, it looks like there is' argued Brian

'What d'you think we should - '

'I got one too' said Adam 'I was just going to ask Anathema about it…'

The Them looked at their leader.

'Well, she's a witch, isn't she?' he said 'She should know what to do'

And then they knocked on the door.


	2. The Four Houses

_Hallo? Is anybody reading this anyway? Whatever..._

**The four Houses**

_And They sharl be together no more,_

_For a Hatte sharl divide Them into Houses Four,_

_Yette, even divided, together They staye,_

_For what He loveth, His powr will save_

And Agnes Nutter was always right…

XXX

Adam, Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian(1) still couldn't believe it. But apparently it was true. The crowd of other students around them seemed fairly real. So did the teachers sitting at their table. And the ancient hat lying on the stool. Everything in the Great Hall, and the whole castle looked real.(2). And the four children as well as the other first-year students were standing there, waiting and staring amazed at everything around them. The Sorting Hat finished its song and the sorting began. Adam wasn't very worried about it. If it was all because of his imagination again, he was pretty sure he and his friends were going to be in the same House. He just didn't know which one, but that didn't really matter. And soon enough Professor McGonagall read Brian's name from her list.

'Wonder which House I'm in' he said.

'Well, you're just gonna find out right now, aren't you?' said Pepper pretending to be annoyed by his nervousness. In fact she was just as nervous as he was.

'Well, good luck' said Adam and Brian set off for the stool with the Sorting Hat. After about half a minute he took it off and went to sit down at the Gryffindor table.

'Cool' said Adam.

'What's so cool?' Pepper asked.

'Well, isn't it obvious?' said Adam 'We're all gonna be in Gryffindor!'

'How can you know that already?' Wensleydale argued.

''Cause Brian is' said Adam simply

'That doesn't mean anything!' Wensleydale still didn't agree.

Pepper was about to say something, but she suddenly heard her name. She sat on the stool for quite a long while, and then, quite unexpectedly, the hat shouted

'SLYTHERIN!'

'What?!' said Adam in shock, as the girl slowly walked to her table. And then, when he had already calmed down a little, he said

'Okay, you were right, Wensley. But this is weird'

Wensleydale didn't say anything. He was not used to Adam being wrong.

'You're prob'ly gonna be in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff' said Adam.

'How d'you know?'

A moment later Wensleydale became a Hufflepuff. Adam was left alone. He waited. He already knew what the hat had decided to do. He was the last one to get sorted. But not the last one to know what House he was in.

'Ravenclaw, isn't it?' he asked the hat as he put it on.

'Wait a moment' said a voice inside his head 'I need to have a look at your mind first'

He waited. A moment later the hat spoke again.

'This is interesting' it said 'Well, well… So the end is coming, eh?'

'Er… no… I guess it's already come… An' gone…'

'I see…' said the hat 'but you are still the Antichrist…'

'Um… sort of… But what's that got to do with anything?'

'If you say so…'

'RAVENCLAW!' shouted the hat, and then whispered 'since you were clever enough to guess it…' before he took it off. It would have smiled if it had a face. Adam went to sit down at the table. As he passed near Wensleydale, he heard him whisper 'Look at the teachers' table'. He looked. And he was very surprised to see Anathema Device sitting there and apparently discussing something with Professor Dumbledore. Suddenly they stopped their discussion and the headmaster spoke to the whole school.

* * *

(1)especially Wensleydale

(2)maybe except for the ceiling. It looked exactly like the sky outside, and things that look like they are not there at all don't look very real.

XXX

Anathema was surprised. She was not used to being surprised. All her life she had known, more or less, what to expect. She had read and analysed the 'Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter'. But now, after the End, she and Newt had decided that they didn't want to know their future. And so, it came to her as quite a shock when each of the Them was sorted into a different House.

'What's going on?' she asked before she could stop herself.

'Nothing to worry about, Anathema,' the headmaster replied 'The Hat usually knows what it is doing.'

She was surprised again when Adam became a Ravenclaw.

'Didn't you say he was a very clever child?' said Dumbledore calmly. (If there was one thing about the man that annoyed her, it was that nothing seemed to surprise him at all.)

'Well, yes he is, but – '

'Will you excuse me for a moment' Dumbledore said and stood up.

'Welcome,' he said very loudly to the whole school 'to a new year at Hogwarts! I know that you are all very hungry and cannot wait for the feast to begin,' A few students laughed at this point 'but first I have some announcements to make.' A few most hungry students groaned 'As you might already know, Professor Umbridge has… er… decided to leave us at the end of last year, due to a rather unpleasant incident involving some angry centaurs in the Forbidden Forest. Therefore, I would like to remind you that the Forbidden Forest really is forbidden, as well as welcome Professor Device, our new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. ' Anathema stood up and smiled at the students. Hardly anyone applauded. Over the years the students had learnt not to like a new teacher before they knew them. In fact only four of them(3) clapped their hands, each of them at a different table. This made her feel a bit uneasy, but she understood the students' behaviour quite well. She sat down.

* * *

(3)four of Them, to be exact

XXX

'Crumple-Horned Snorcack' said Luna Lovegood, the Ravenclaw Prefect and the entrance to the common room opened. She watched her fellow students walk in. She looked at one of the first-years, the boy, who had been talking to some other kids before the sorting, but each of them had ended up in a different House. Luna had noticed that of course. She often payed attention to things other people didn't seem to notice. And now she noticed there was something strange about the boy. Well, many people thought there was something strange about Luna and she knew about that of course, but this was different.

She waited for everybody else to get into the common room and then walked in herself. She noticed that the odd first-year was looking at her as well.

'What's a Crumple-Horned Snorcack anyway?' he asked.

XXX

Basically she was just another stupid first-year, but there was something about her that Draco Malfoy didn't like. As a first-year, she should look a bit scared, but she didn't. She walked around the place as if it belonged to her. She had short red hair and more freckles than most of the Weasleys. He had no idea who she was, but she surely wasn't a pureblood witch. He would have known if she was. What the hell was she doing in his House?!

'Hey, kid!' he said to her 'You're a Mudblood, aren't you? What do you think you're doing in Slytherin?'

The girl known as Pepper looked at him. And the next thing he said was 'Aaarghh! Crabbe! Goyle! Help me!!!'

XXX

'And then a flying saucer landed on the Dursleys' lawn' said Harry Potter 'And the aliens were trying to give Aunt Petunia a Message Of Universal Peace And Cosmic Harmony An' Suchlike'

'I can imagine her face' said Ron Weasley and started laughing.

'Yeah, it was funny' Harry said 'Or it would have been if Uncle Vernon hadn't thought it was my fault'

'But it couldn't have been!' said Hermione Granger 'How could you possibly do that? I can't believe he didn't know that! I've read this book about flying saucers and - '

'There seem to have been quite a lot of them this summer' Neville Longbottom interrupted 'I haven't seen any though…'

'Me neither' said Ron 'But some weird people in yellow robes started coming out of the ground in our garden one day, didn't they, Ginny?'

'Yeah' said Ron's younger sister 'What did they want anyway?'

'No idea' said Ron.

'They showed up in our garden too!' Neville said excitedly.

'Did you find out what they were doing there?' Ginny asked.

'Um… no… They all ran away when Gran started yelling at them for damaging the flowerbeds'

'You think it had something to do with You-Know-Who?' Hermione asked, suddenly worried.

'It didn't' said a first-year boy who had suddenly appeared next to them. The older students stared at him.

'Well, it couldn't have!' the boy explained 'I mean, he's evil, isn't he? He doesn't go around givin' people Messages Of Universal Peace!'

'And who were the people in yellow robes?' Ron asked

'Tibetans' said the first-year simply 'Didn't you know?! My friend Adam says they've got all those underground tunnels an' they listen to everything people say, an - '

'Anything else happened to you this summer?'

'Oh, just a rain of fish' said Hermione weakly 'I'm sure Luna knows where those come from.'

XXX

Wensleydale still couldn't believe it. His father had always said there was no such thing as magic. And now suddenly it turned out that there was. And he was actually going to learn it! His first magic lesson was going to start the next morning. 'Oh well,' he thought 'if I already am in a place that doesn't exist, and I'm going to learn things that aren't possible, I guess I'd better prepare for this.' He opened one of his handbooks and started reading.

XXX

This had been another very strange day. This had been a very strange month, actually. After the whole Armageddon thing Adam thought nothing would ever surprise him again, but it actually had. First the letter and the fact that he was actually a wizard, then the strange results of the sorting, and finally all those amazing things Luna had told him. Right now Adam was lying in his new bed and thinking about all this. The fact that Pepper was in Slytherin and Brian was in Gryffindor was a little scary. He knew students from theese two Houses didn't like each other. So what about the Them? He didn't want his gang to fall apart. 'It's not gonna happen' he told himself 'We _are _gonna be friends _forever_! _An'_ I've got to tell them all the stuff Luna told me about tomorrow…'

And then he fell asleep.


	3. For what He dreams is True

**For what He dreams is true…**

I think I should remind you about it now.

_(…) And there sharl be chaos,_

_And strange thinges sharl happen,_

_For what He believes, is true for Them…_

There is also another one that says

_The Moon sharl tell Him and He sharl dream, _

_And thinges sharl come unexpected,_

_And thinges sharl come frome the Woods, _

_And thinges sharl come frome the Skye,_

_And thinges sharl come frome Infide His head,_

_Thinges you woulde notte believ, _

_Yette reall they be,_

_For what He dreams is true_

Now, that sounds dangerous…

XXX

Ginny's first lesson was Care of Magical Creatures with the Ravenclaws. She was very happy about it. For one thing she was beginning to like the subject. Hagrid had not been a very good teacher in the beginning, but now he seemed to know what he was doing and his lessons were becoming quite interesting(1). Another reason was that she needed to talk to Luna. 'Loony' Luna, whose father was editor of _The Quibbler, _a magazine that published the most unbelievable articles, was very likely to know something about flying saucers, Tibetans in underground tunnels and rains of fish. When she saw that Luna was already there, waiting next to Hagrid's house along with some other students, Ginny started to run to catch up with her friend.

'Hello, Ginevra' Luna said. Ginny found the way she always used everybody's full names a bit annoying.

'Hi, Luna' she replied 'I've got a lot of things to tell you.'

When Luna was explaining that fish could fly, only they didn't like to do it because they were afraid of heights, Ginny saw something move behind the trees.

'Hey, what's that?!' she said excitedly, pointing in that direction.

Luna stared at it for a moment. She managed to make out three oddly shaped horns on its head before it disappeared deeper in the forest. Her eyes seemed to grow larger than they normally were.

'I think I know what it was' she whispered 'But I thought they didn't live in Britain!'

'What was it?' Ginny asked in an equally excited whisper.

'It looked like a Crumple-Horned Snorcack'

* * *

(1)In a good way. **Not** like the Blast-Ended-Skrewts or the Hippogriff Incident!

XXX

'You won't believe what I saw this morning!' said Ginny as she sat down at the table next to her brother. It was lunch time now and Ginny was so excited she hardly remembered what lessons she'd had after Care of Magical Creatures.

'More Tibetans?' asked Ron.

'Another flying saucer?' asked Harry.

'No, not really…' Ginny said. She was beginning to worry about how she would tell the others about it. They probably _really _wouldn't believe it.

'It didn't rain fish again, did it?' Hermione said 'I would have seen it when I looked out of the window…'

'Er.. no…' Ginny was really very, very, _very_ nervous now.

'Oh, come on, Ginny!' Ron encouraged her 'Tell us what happened!'

'But you won't laugh at me, will you?' said Ginny shyly.

'Not unless it's funny'

It wasn't. Well, at least not _very_ funny. But Ginny was quite sure Ron was going to laugh anyway.

'Ron!' Hermione almost shouted 'Look what you've done! Now she's not going to tell us!'

Just as Ginny was going to… well, actually, _not_ going to tell them Luna walked over to the Gryffindor table, and sat down next to them(2).

'Hello' she said 'Has Ginevra already told you what we saw this morning?'she asked.

'I was trying to' Ginny said 'But Ron-'

'It is true, Ronald' Luna said 'There really _are_ Crumple-Horned Snorcacks in the Forest!'

'Are you sure, Luna?' Hermione asked as Ron started to laugh 'Are you sure it wasn't… something else?'

'I know a Crumple-Horned Snorcack when I see one!'

'What about when you don't?' asked Ron, laughing 'I mean, there's no such thing as a Crumple-Horned Snorcack!'

'Actually, I saw it too' Ginny said.

'What did it look like?' Harry finally managed o speak before Ron and Hermione did.

'Uh…' Ginny hesitated. She hadn't really seen exactly what it looked like 'It… er… didn't look like any animal I've seen before' she finally said.

* * *

(2)Yes, I know she was a Ravenclaw and she seemed to be aware of it too, but she didn't care what's normal and what isn't. She didn't understand the rule about sitting at your own house table during the meals. She generally didn't believe in rules. General guidelines, yes, of course, but not rules.

XXX

The Them decided to eat at the Hufflepuff table today. Wensleydale wasn't very pleased. He knew it must be against some kind of rule. And he didn't like to break rules. You always got in trouble sooner or later if you broke rules. However, he wasn't very surprised either. He _would_ be surprised if Adam _wasn't _trying to break any rule for a whole day. So finally he agreed that it was a good idea, after the other Them explained to him, that he was not even doing anything wrong, as he was still at the right table. So Wensleydale was not breaking the rules, and trying to stop the other three from doing it just couldn't possibly work.

'So, what's up?' he asked his friends.

'The people in Slytherin are really weird' Pepper complained ' 'specially this Malfoy guy an' his friends.'

'Don't worry about 'em, Pepper. They're prob'ly just stupid' Adam comforted her

'Yeah' added Wensleydale 'My dad always says you shouldn't ever worry what stupid people think about you'

'Prob'ly 'cause they don't think at all' Brian laughed. 'An' do you know who I met?' he added a few seconds later.

'Who?'

'Harry Potter an' his friends' Brian said

'Cool'

'An' they told me a lot of int'restin' stuff.' He continued 'It's really true about those Tibetans an' all. Neville's Gran yelled at them for damagin' flowerbeds!'

The Them laughed.

'An' some aliens apparently tried to give Harry's aunt a Message of Universal Peace an' stuff. '

'Whoa…'

'What about you, Adam?'

'Oh, I met this girl called Luna… (Hang on, I think I remember her from those books!) An' she told me _lots_ of stuff!'

'Wow!'

'Yeah, well, d'you know where rains of fish _really_ come from? Luna says fish can fly, only they don't want to - '

'They can't!' Wensleydale argued 'They've got no wings!'

'Well, maybe the wings only appear when they need 'em. Or something'

'Ever seen a fish with wings?'

'Mr. Young, what House are you in?' asked a cold voice behind them. The Them turned around to see a man with dark, greasy hair and a rather large nose.

'R-ravenclaw' Adam said 'but - '

'No but's.' said Professor Snape 'And the same goes to all of you. Go back to your tables immidiately, or you will get detention!' he turned to the Gryffindor table 'You too, Lovegood. And ten points each from Gryffindor and Hufflepuff'

Everybody went back to their tables and Ron muttered something that sounded very much like 'stupid old bat' under his breath.

'I heard that, Weasley!' said Snape 'Ten more points from Gryffindor!'

XXX

'Another bunch of troublemakers' thought Severus Snape as he walked back to his dungeon 'And what was that about flying fish? I'm sure they are up to something.'

He looked out of the window, just to make sure, and suddenly he saw something in the sky. About a minute later a large fish with blue feathery wings flew in through an open window and hit the Potions Master in the face.

So now there was a student he hated more than Potter.

'You will pay for this, Young!' he said loudly.


	4. True and False

_Thanks for the revievs (:_

_In case you don't understand: Adam has grown up living with normal people, but his real father is Satan, which means Adam is the Antichrist, which didn't really mean much, until everything he thought about too much started to turn out to be real. He was supposed to help bring about Armageddon, but decided he didn't want to. Something like that. It's kind of hard to explain. You'd have to read 'Good Omens' to understand it all.  
The other Them are just normal kids. Well, almost normal.Normal enough for me._

_Anathema is the only living descendant of Agness Nutter, witch and prophetess from the seventeenth, century I think._

_And now back to the story..._

**True and False**

_And they sharl knowe myne name One Day,_

_And Wytches and Wizzards sharl seek myne word,_

_And the Wolfe sharl finde it,_

_Butte the Angelle sharl guard it,_

_And notte lette them have it._

_Yette, the Wolfe sharl knowe, what he needth to be told_

XXX

'Pleased to meet you, Professor Device' said the strange-looking woman. She was wearing a pair of huge glasses and a lot of jewelery, and looked a lot like a giant dragonfly 'My Inner Eye told me that I would have the honour of meeting the heir of a great Seer' Anathema was beginning to find the insect-like woman a little annoying. She wanted to ask whether the 'Inner Eye' was called Albus Dumbledore. 'My name is Sybill Trelawney,' the woman introduced herself 'I teach Divination in this school and I am proud to say I have had great Seer in my family as well' I bet it was not you, Anathema wanted to say. Sybill Trelawney talked far too much. And had a very annoying misty voice.

'Um… I'm pleased to meet you too' Anathema lied, when the woman finally let her speak.

XXX

'Not another prophecy!' groaned Mundungus Fletcher as Dumbledore told the Order about it.

'A whole _book_ of prophecies, actually' the headmaster corrected 'Would you mind explaining, Anathema?'

The new teacher sighed and started explaining.

'I don't want to know it either, but we have to read it before Voldemort does. Or at least we should know where to find it.'

'What is this prophecy about anyway?' asked Minerva McGonagall. She had known Sybill Trelawney for too long to believe in any form of fortune-telling.

'More or less everything, I suppose' said Anathema and then she began to explain who Agnes Nutter had been. She was quite annoyed by the fact that so many people didn't know anything about her. One of the Weasley twins (They had officially joined the Order this summer. Their mother was very worried about it, but at last she understood that they would know what's going on at the meetings anyway by listening at the door.) actually made a joke about the name!

'We do not know what exactly the _Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies _are about,' Dumbledore said when she finished 'but we can be sure it is very important. The book might tell us how to defeat Voldemort, as well as provide some more information about Adam's role in it all'

'Stupidlittlebastard' muttered Snape.

'What did you say, Severus?'

'Oh… nothing… I was just… thinking about Mr. Young…'(1)

* * *

(1)And fish 

XXX

The _Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter_ were a very rare book. _Very_ rare indeed. There were only two copies of it. Or there had been. Until Newton Pulsifer threw one of them into the fire. And the other one… The other one was right here in his hands. Crowley the demon was very pleased with himself. He had managed to lay his hands on the only copy of the _Further Nife and Accurate Prophecies. _And now he was going to tempt an angel. He knew very well, if there was one thing Aziraphale couldn't resist, it was the only copy of an old book. He pushed the door to the bookshop open.

XXX

Anyone else would have looked for it in a more magical place. Somewhere near Diagon Alley perhaps, or maybe in Hogsmeade. But he just knew he wouldn't find it there. He had no idea how he knew, but he did. It was some kind of instinct probably. And, whether he liked it or not, he had to admit, that a werewolf's instinct was quite often right. And besides, he knew this little shop in Muggle London and had already found some interesting old books in there. Remus Lupin headed for Mr. A. Ziraphale's shop.

It was the kind of shop that was closed most of the time, as if the owner didn't really want to _sell_ anything. This time however it appeared to be open. A man in very dark sunglasses was leaving it with a satisfied sort of smile on his face. Remus entered the shop.

'Good afternoon' said the owner politely 'What can I do for you?'

'I am looking for…' Remus pulled a little piece of paper out of his pocket and made sure he remembered the title 'the _Further Nice and Accurate prophecies of Agnes Nutter_'

'Oh…' the owner said 'A very rare book. Very hard to find indeed…' then, after a moment of silence, he added 'I'm sorry, sir. I'm afraid I haven't got it.'(2)

Remus looked around the shop and saw something lying on a small table, next to one of the shelves. Was Mr. Ziraphale lying?

'Excuse me,' Remus said 'can I have a look at that book?'

Mr. Ziraphale didn't know what to do.

'What book?' he asked.

'The one on the table'

Remus took the book in his hands, opened it at a random page and read a few lines. It really was the one he was looking for.

'It's not for sale' Mr. Ziraphale tried to stop him, but the werewolf ignored him.

'Oh my God…' he said 'Nutter really was a true Seer!'

'Why, of course she was!' said Mr. Ziraphale.

'She knew I would find the book!' Remus said excitedly 'She even knew what page I would read! She told me to-' He looked into the book again 'to _Truste the Hounde whene he returnethe,_

For the One who hath the Powr Believthe notte in his Deathe… 

What do you think it's supposed to mean?'

'I do not know. I was just going to read it myself'

'I _really_ need this book!' said Remus desperately 'It's _very_ important!'

'Well, I am terribly sorry, but I just can't do it.'

Remus was almost crying when he left the shop. He had found the book (damn instinct…), but he had only managed to read one prophecy. On the other hand, the prophecy had told him quite a lot. Or at least it had _tried_ to tell him. All he had understood was that the old nutter was talking directly to him, which meant she must have really been a true Seer. He had also noticed that her spelling was awful and she always talked in riddles. This was a good thing, though. If their aim was to stop Voldemort from reading and understanding the prophecy, Agnes Nutter had already done it for them. And Ziraphale was very unlikely to let the Dark wizard have it anyway.

So now he could think about the one he had read. The Hound? The One with the Power? What the hell?!

* * *

(2)And Crowley's smile probably grew even wider… 

XXX

Prosessor Snape's behaviour on the first day of school had not discouraged the Them. So what if they would get detention? This time they were eating dinner at the Gryffindor table. They were not talking, though. The conversation going on next to them was more interesting.

'What's wrong with you, Harry' Hermione asked. Harry Potter did indeed seem quite depressed.

'Trelawney and her stupid Grim again' Ron explained 'Can't she see he's got enough other problems?'

'You're not worrying about her, are you?!' Hermione was shocked 'Everyone knows she's just - '

'Not everyone' Ron pointed out. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown still believed in Trelawney's Inner Eye.

'Yeah… well, you know what I mean. Since when do you believe her anyway?' Hermione asked.

'I don't but - ' Harry mumbled

'Come on, Harry' said Ron 'She kept seeing that Grim in our third year and somehow you're still - '

'She did _not_ see _anything_!' Hermione cut him off 'She never really does!'(3)

'Well, yeah…' said Harry 'But in our third year… remember…it might have meant something after all…'

'But you're still alive, aren't you?' said Ron irritably 'What are you on about?'

'No… Ron… I think I'm beginning to understand' said Hermione quietly.

'You mean…?'

'Well it was horrible. And reminding him of it like that…' she paused for a moment 'Harry?'

'Huh?'

'Is it about S… Snuffles' she corrected herself

Harry nodded.

'Hey' said Ron 'Now, this is really weird'

'What?'

'I mean… if he's… er… gone' Ron couldn't get used to the sad fact either 'What did the dog mean then? I mean if last time - '

'It means Trelawney's a liar' Hermione ended the conversation.

* * *

(3)This is not true. Sybill Trelawney is the worst kind of 'Seer' there can possibly be. She does not lie. And what she sees in her tea leaves and crystal balls is actually correct. She just keeps misunderstanding it. She can't, for example, believe that a big black dog can simply mean a big black dog… or in fact, that anything could mean something else than death. 


	5. The Grim Biker

_Someone has already pointed out that my prophecies are a bit too understandable, so you probably knew this was comming..._

**The Grim Biker**

'Still depressed, is he?' Luna was quite worried. Just because she didn't care what other people thought about her, it didn't mean she didn't care about other people at all.

'Yeah' said Adam 'Very, _very_ depressed'

'I still can't believe all this happened,' said the girl sadly.

'I don't believe it either!' the boy said 'It _isn't_ true! It just _can't_ be!'

'I've seen it, Adam' said Luna 'I was there. He's gone'

'No' Adam argued 'He is not!'

'We can't do anything about it.'

Adam thought about it. He could.

'What if we don't have to?' he said 'If it just… sorta… wasn't what it looked like?'

Luna though about it. She had been able to see Thestrals since she was nine years old. She understood there were no things that only happened to other people, not even death. Not even _other people's _death.And she wished she didn't understand it.

'What do _you_ think it was?' she asked.

'Well, nobody really knows, do they?' Adam said 'It's a myst'ry. That's why they call it the Department of Myst'ries!'

Most people would say Luna is a very cheerful person. She, however, wouldn't be so sure of it. She wished she had as much hope as this kid.

XXX

_The Hound? The One with the Power? What the hell!_

XXX

Where was he? What had happened? The last thing he remembered was that spell. But what kind of spell was it? He had no idea. He tried to Apparate back to London. It didn't work. To Hogsmeade. This didn't work either. Anywhere? Nothing.

'Oh shit!' he muttered 'So that's what the spell did? Damn…'

XXX

The Four Other Bikers were riding as fast as they could.

'We're lost, ain't we?' asked Greaser.

' 'Course we're not!' Big Ted answered.

'We can't be lost' Pigbog added hopefully.

'Yeah!' said Skuzz ' We're the Four Horse- Um… I mean Bikers… of the Apocalypse, ain't we?'

'Well - ' said Pigbog. At the moment he was very glad that they had got not-at-all-lost-I'm-sure, and the _real_ Hell's Angels weren't anywhere around.

'I mean, the _other_ Four Bikers, you know what I mean… '

'Yeah, whatever,' Big Ted turned his head towards Skuzz 'Whatever we are, we can't be lost'

'WATCH OUT, TED!' Pigbog suddenly yelled.

'What?' Bid Ted asked him.

'You almost ran over a dog!'

'So?'

'If the End's commin', you might go to Hell for runnin' over dogs…'

'Nah…'

'OK, but it was a _big_ dog! You could have gone to hell _right now!_'

'What!'

'You could have killed the dog _and_ yourself'

The bikers stopped.

'Where's the dog anyway?' asked Big Ted.

'Over there' Pigbog pointed in the direction. But the dog was not there any more. Instead, a man was standing on the road. He was quite tall, rather thin, had long, dark hair and could have looked like a biker, but judging by the state of his clothes, he couldn't possibly afford a bike. And they were sure they had seen him somewhere before, but they had no idea where. For a moment he didn't seem to know what to do. Then he made up his mind.

'Could you tell me where we are?' he asked.

'Well?' Greaser asked his friends 'You said we ain't lost.'

Big Ted glared at him.

'In the middle of nowhere, I guess' Pigbog informed the stranger, who was right now staring oddly at Big Ted's bike. The owner noticed it.

'What?' he asked.

'I…' the stranger hesitated 'used to have one like that… Ages ago…'

So he _was_ a biker, eh?

'Yeah?'

'It's a great bike. Can I have a look at it?'

'Yeah, whatever…'

The mysterious biker-or-whoever-he-was started to examine the wehicle carefully. And then, suddenly

'Where did you get it anyway?' he asked.

'Uh…' Big Ted hesitated 'Bought it… years ago, from this… this funny guy - '

'What funny guy?' the stranger was becoming very curious

'Well, he was tall and…er… _very_ tall… huge…'

The stranger nearly jumped when he heard this.

'Really?' he asked 'Then this must be…'

'What?' asked all four bikers at once.

'I think this used to be my bike' he said slowly, still staring at it amazed.

'Really?'

'Yeah, I… sort of had to lend it to him. Long story.' He added when the others looked at him 'and then… guess he thought I wouldn't come back…'

'Who are you anyway?' Big Ted asked.

'I'd rather not tell you'

Oh great, _another_ walking mystery…

For a moment they didn't say anything. Then the stranger broke the silence again.

'So… could you guys help me?' he said 'I need to get somewhere _fast _and… er…' somehow he was already sitting on the bike 'I promise you'll get it back,' He said 'Soon.' He added hopefully.

The others looked at him wondering how fast he was going to die. He was almost as tall as Big Ted, but much thinner, and… no… no chance at all, he was as good as dead already.

And then he suddenly flew away. Yes, flew. On the bike.

'Did you know this bike could fly?' Skuzz asked Big Ted.

'I've been wonderin' what the little red button did…' he said weakly, still staring at the mysterious biker.

'Don't worry' they heard a distant voice 'You'll get it back!'

'The End really is commin'…'

'Shut up, Greaser!'

XXX

And finally it was the first Hogsmeade weekend. Harry's mood was considerably better. Trelawney had seen the Grim a few more times, but Harry got used to it and Ron had even started joking about it.

'Well, it's not you who keeps seeing that Grim' he would say 'It's Trelawney. So maybe it's not _your_ death she predicts.'

'It's not funny, Ron!' Hermione would say and laugh anyway.

And today, as Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Luna and Neville were leaving _The Three Broomsticks _to walk around the town a little more, none of them expected anything really unusual to happen. They went to Honeydukes and then to Zonko's. Then, as they walked near the Shrieking Shack (and explainined to Neville that it never was haunted), Harry saw something. Something large, black and, as far as he could tell from the distance, quite dog-shaped.

'What's that?' he asked pointing. The others looked at it.

'Not a Crumple-Horned Snorcack, is it?' joked Ron. The Snorcack had been seen near the school a few more times, but Ron had never seen it, so he still didn't quite believe in its existance.

'Actually' Luna said 'it looks more like - '

'You can see it too?' Harry was relieved.

'We _all_ can,'Hermione told him.

'No, I can't' Neville complained.

'It's over there, silly' Ginny pointed.

'Oh!'

The dog-Grim-Snorcack-or-whatever-it-was was looking at them too. Actually, it was now close enough to see that it most probably was a dog. Even Ron finally decided that it was not funny any more.

'It's not… the Grim or something?' he said nervously.

'Oh, don't be ridiculous!' Hermione said 'If we can all see it - '

'We're all gonna die?'

'No, you idiot! It's probably just a - '

Harry wasn't istening any more. The dog-thing was now close enough to see that it looked familiar. Had he seen it before? But this was ridiculous! This was just a dog, and he was just imagining things.

But the dog barked loudly and happily, turned its back on them, wagged its tail and began to walk. They stared at it. It turned its head to look at them again.

'It wants us to follow,' Luna said.

'What if it's a trap?' Harry asked.

'Take out your wands and follow it' Ron suggested. And very carefully, they did.

XXX

The cave looked exactly the same as it had looked the last time Harry saw it. Down to the Hippogriff droppings on the floor. No, there was a difference. What was a motorbike doing in here? And then something strange happened to the dog. Well, not that strange, as Harry had seen it before. But now! It couldn't be true!

'You don't see what I see, do you?' he asked his friends. But they all looked just as amazed as he was.

'Oh no,' said Harry 'We're _all_ seeing things'

'I'm not' said the hallucination 'and I don't think you are either. What do you see?'

XXX

_The Hound? Returns? Oooh… she really was a nutter…_

XXX

'But how come you're here?' Harry said, still very confused 'I thought you were dead. Last time I saw you, you were dying… At least… I thought you were… '

'I thought so too' said Sirius 'But instead I ended up in the middle of nowhere, not knowing where I had been for the last few months'

'This is really odd' Hermione said. She also thought she had to visit the library as soon as she got back to school.

'So what was that veil thing anyway?' Ron asked.

'I don't think anybody knows that,' Luna said 'That's why they keep it in the Department of Mystries: because it's a mystery!'

Hermione gave her an odd look. She had always thought Luna was weird and… well… just weird. She didn't expect her to say things that sound so wise.

'And where did you get that bike?' Ron asked after a moment of silence.

'It's mine…' Sirius tried to explain 'Kind of… or was…'

'You didn't steal it or anything?' Hermione asked.

'Not _really_… More like… borrowed. You see, I was stuck in the middle of nowhere and realised I couldn't Apparate'

'Well, yeah, but you could get into a lot of trouble for that'

'Er… Hermione...' Neville suddenly spoke.

'What?'

'Well, you know… err… This is… er…'

'He's right' Sirius said 'How could I possibly get into any _more_ trouble?'

She looked him and remembered who she was talking to. If this man ever got caught, he would get the Dementor's Kiss, the worst punishment there was. He might be… well, innocent didn't seem like the best word… might not have done what he'd been sentenced for, but had no chance of proving it. He was also an unregistered Animagus and probably had broken enough rules. And as far as the Ministry was concerned, escaping from Azkaban was probably bad enough to put him back in there. And be more careful this time.

'Well, anyway, it's great to see you again' Harry said.

'Yeah' Ron added 'The Order will probably be very happy to see you too'

'Fred and George seemed to really miss you' said Ginny

'Oh, yes, I thought they would,' Sirius said 'Especially after they found out who made the Map'

Harry, Ron and Hermione burst out laughing while Luna and Neville looked rather confused.

'They did?' Ron asked, still laughing 'And I didn't see their faces?'

'Just a day before whatever happened to me happened.'

This reminded Hermione how unusual and important this meeting was.

'Well, anyway' she said 'I think we should go and tell Dumbledore about it.'


	6. The Spawn of Satan

_There are some Discworld references in this chapter. It isn't really necessary to understand them. I told you just in case you want to know, what 'Oook-ed' in the library etc._

**The Spawn of Satan**

'This is very strange indeed' the Headmaster said 'I shall inform the Order immidately. And possibly contact Sirius as well. Where do you think I can find him?'

'He's in that cave near Hogsmeade' Ron said.

'Thank you. Is there anything else you wanted to tell me?'

'No' Harry said.

And the whole group left the office. Hermione remembered she had to go to the library. Harry, Ron and Ginny realised they were already late for their Quidditch practice (Harry got back on the team when Umbridge left the school. Forever isn't really as long as it sounds. Ginny plays Chaser now.) Neville and Luna headed for their common rooms.

XXX

'Hi, Luna!' she heard as soon as she got into the common room. It was Adam.

'Hello' she answered.

'How was Hogsmeade?' the boy asked.

'Oh, it was great, as usual' and then, after a moment of silence, she added 'And you were right'

'Well, I told you, didn't I?' he said and she suddenly began to realise something. There was something odd about the boy. And now this seemed to have happened just because he believed it would.

'Sorry, Adam' she said 'I need to go to the library'

And she ran out of the common room to catch up with Hermione.

XXX

All the darkness and dust made the atmosphere a little scary. It was silent except for the occasional rustle, probably coming from books so powerfully magical they could move by themselves. Once or twice they saw a strange ape-like something climbing a bookshelf.(1) The worst thing, however, was that they didn't really know what they were looking for.(2) Or where they were.

'I should have borrowed the Map from Harry,' Hermione said nervously.

'What map?' Luna asked.

'I'll explain that later. Maybe. Did you know the library was so big?'

'Maybe we're not in our library any more?' Luna suggested.

'What do you mean?'

'I've read about it in _the Quibbler_ once,' she explained 'It's called the L-space or something - '

'This is not the right time for talking about _the Quibbler_, Loony!' said Hermione rather annoyed 'I think we're lost!'

'I know,' Luna said 'We're lost in the L-space'

Hermione just sighed as something Oook-ed right above their heads.

The two girls walked in silence for a while, until they saw a distant light.

'What's that?' Luna asked.

'Probably the exit' Hermione said and ran towards the light.

'Hermione! No!' Luna shouted 'This might not be our library! This might not be our _world_ at all!'

Hermione ignored Luna, so she ran to catch up with her. She didn't want to be lost in the L-space _alone._

This really wasn't the library at Hogwarts. They wren't even sure it was a library. It might as well be an old bookshop. And there was nobody there.

'Let's go back to Hogwarts' Luna suggested.

'No,' Hermione said 'I'd rather have a look around first.'

'But if somebody comes and - '

Hermione didn't listen. She had spotted an open book on a small table in the corner of the room. And she was already standing next to it, reading.

'What is it?' Luna asked.

'Looks like some kind of old prophecy. A whole book of old prophecies in fact.'

Propecy. The word rang a bell in Luna's head.

'Maybe we can find… You know… That one…?' she said.

'I don't think so. But this sounds interesting enough.'

Both girls looked inside the book.

_Believe whatte ye see_

_For reall it be._

_What He believethe is True, _

_Thatte is His Powr,_

_For He is the Spawn of Satan,_

_Yette, He meanth no – _

'Someone' s coming!' Luna suddenly interrupted.

'What!'

'Run!'

There wasn't much time for thinking. The two girls abandoned the book and disappeared between the shelves.

* * *

(1)And probably, although they didn't hear it saying something like 'Oook' or 'Eeek'.

(2)I mean, imagine telling the librarian that you're looking for something about interdimentional gateways in the Department of Mysteries.(3)

(3) Yeah, OK, you could find some good fantasy that way, but imagine that it's _real_…

XXX

All right. You probably guessed it. The word they didn't manage to read was:

_- harm_

XXX

For one thing, there were too many tasteless silver decorations even for someone who wasn't a werewolf. And far too many of them were shaped like snakes. And generally there was too much Dark magic all over the house. They had managed to make it look a little better over the last year, but it was still a horrible place. And even though it certainly wasn't calm, it was very boring. Why did he have to stay here again? Oh, yes. Somebody had to look after Buckbeak the Hippogriff and make sure Kreacher the crazy house-elf wouldn't set traps in the house while everybody was out.

'Why can't they find a different headquarters?' Remus asked himself.

And then an owl flew in through a window and dropped a letter in front of him. He picked it up and started reading. It was from Dumbledore.

… _I think I have worked out a part of the prophecy.the one about the returning hound. If it really is him, that is. I still have difficulty believing it. He seemed to know where the Headquarters is, though, so, unless I am much mistaken, he shall be coming home soon._

The letter was almost as hard to understand as Nutter's prophecy. He read it over and over again and didn't understand much. And then he heard the noise behind him. He turned around. Something had flown in through the window. It was much too big to be another owl. And besides, owls don't make so much noise. It appeared to be a motorbike. And then he saw who was sitting on it. He picked up a quill and a piece of parchment and quikly wrote a very short letter to Dumbledore. Only two words in fact:

_He's here._

XXX

'Oh… my… God…' Luna panted 'So he is…?'

'What? Who?' Hermione asked 'What's going on? What are you talking about?'

'I'm not sure yet,' said Luna 'But I think I know why all the strange things happen.'

'You mean, because someone believes in them? This is ridiculous!'

'Who said ridiculous things can't be true?'

'Oh, don't start it again! I'm not talking to you!'

And they walked in silence for another few minutes. It was getting darker again. And then Luna noticed a book. It didn't seem particularly magical, or even very old, or in any other way unusual, but it somehow seemed important. Luna picked it up. She lit her wand and looked very carefully at the cover. It was mostly black, but had a rather colorful picture on the front. The title was _Good Omens_. Luna opened the book, she flicked through the first few pages in search of something interesting. And found it. On pages thirteen and fourteen.

'Hermione!' she shouted 'Wait for me!'

'I'm not talking to you, Loony!'

'But it's important! I think I've found the answer!'

'The answer to what?'

'Almost everything'

But Hermione didn't seem to even hear that. Luna ran after her once again.

'Look,' she said 'Look what I found!'

Hermione finally looked into the book.

'_Anathema Device_,' she read 'That's our Defence teacher!'

'That's not all,' Luna said and pointed at something else on the page.

'_ADAM' _she read_ '(An Antichrist)_ Does that mean Professor Device knows him?' she asked.

'Actually' Luna said 'I think _I_ know him.'


	7. Their Choice

** Their choice**

_Both of the sides for Him sharl fighte,_

_Darkness and Lighte, with alle theire might,_

_For He Whoos Name I Can Notte Spelle_

_Hath fallen, yette he risethe again,_

_Yette, it is Theyr choyse to mayke._

XXX

Something was wrong, Hermione noticed as she looked out of the window. But what…? She looked again.

'The sun!' she whispered.

'What about it?' Luna asked, and suddenly realised something 'We are not in our world, are we?' she asked, frightened 'That's why it looks different?'

'No,' Hermione said, a little annoyed 'It's just… What time is it?' she suddenly asked.

'Nine o'clock' Luna informed her.

'In the morning' Hermione added 'Nine o'clock in the _morning_!'

'You mean we've spent all night in there?'

'Apparently' said Hermione 'You might have been right about the - ' and she suddenly stopped.

'What's wrong?' Luna asked worriedly.

'It's Monday, isn't it?' asked Hermione, a look of horror on her face.

'Yes, I think so,' said Luna 'Unless we got more lost than we thought we were and it's Wensday two weeks ago for example.'(1)

'What the hell!'

'L-space.'

'There's no time for this Luna! We're late!'

'What?'

'School, Loony, school! We're late for class!'

'Oh, right. We'd better go now.'

'That's right. See you later, Luna.'

'Goodbye.'

And the girls ran in two different directions.

* * *

(1)At this point the author was tempted to write something about four oddly familiar boys emerging from somewhere between the bookshelves, apparently looking for a book on very advanced Transfiguration, but she changed her mind. That would be a little too much, wouldn't it?

XXX

Luna didn't bother getting the books from her dormitory. They were not necessary in Care of Magical Creatures anyway. She headed directly for Hagrid's hut.

'What took yeh so long, Luna?' Hagrid asked as she joined the rest of the class.

'It's a long story, Hagrid(2)' she said 'Can I tell you after class?'

'Yeah, all right,' the half-giant agreed 'As I was sayin', unicorns - '

'What happened?' Ginny whispered to Luna.

'Well, I was in the library with Hermione, and then, I think we - '

* * *

(2)Not even Luna ever called Hagrid 'Professor'. Nobody knows why. Maybe he just didn't look like one.

XXX

As Hermione walked into her dormitory to pick up her books, she realised tonight had been the worst possible night for getting lost in the library. Her first lesson today was Potions! For a moment she panicked and conidered skipping it. Yes, that's right: Hermione Granger didn't want to come to class! But then she gatehred all her Gryffindor courage, picked up her bag and walked towards Snape's dungeon.

'Granger!' the teacher definitely wasn't in a good mood. But then again, he never was.

'S-sorry, Professor'

'You're late!' he said angrily 'Your house loses ten points.'

'I-I can explain -'

'Do you want to lose more points, Granger?'

'Er… no, of course I -'

'Then sit down and stop talking! And you lose five more points anyway.'

The girl sighed and sat down next to Neville.

XXX

'Yes, Luna, I am aware of this,' said Dumbledore calmly. The six of them were in his office again.

'And you let him - ' Harry was quite shocked. He knew Dumbledore believed that everyone should have their chance(3), but this was a litle too much.

'Yes, I did'

'Even though he is -'

'Professor Device knows him quite well. She says he is a very nice boy.'

'But still - ' Hermione argued.

'I know him too, Professor' Luna said 'But the prophecy clearly says that he is the -'

'I thought you would understand' the headmaster tried to explain 'That just because he is a little… different, it does not mean he is bad.'

'But the Spawn of Satan, Professor - ' Ron said impatiently.

'Does not necessarily have to be evil.'

'Are you trying to tell us,' Hermione asked 'That the Antichrist is actually _good_?'

'No. He is neither good, nor evil.' Dumbledore said 'He is just _human_. But maybe a little _more_ human than others.'

* * *

(3)And second, and third chance if that didn't work. And, if everything else failed, a fourth one too.

XXX

_Dear Draco,_

_I have a mission for you from the Dark Lord himself. There is a boy in your school (first year, I believe), who has powers most people can hardly imagine. It is said that the child is the Antichrist, but that apparently doesn't mean he is on our side yet. Your job is to convince him to work or us. _

_Good luck,_

_Aunt Bella_

_PS. The boy's name is Adam Young._

Draco wasn't really sure what to do about this letter. A mission like that was something to be proud of(4), but he was not sure how he could possibly do it. He knew one girl who seemed to be Young's friend, but they hated each other since her first day of school.

* * *

(4)That is, if you are a sixteen-year-old pureblood-obsessed aristocrat. Whatever…

XXX

'But a human can turn evil too!' Harry said as they left Dumbledore's office.

'And the Young kid has friends in Slytherin' Ron added.

'_One_ friend' Luna corrected 'And he says she hates it there.'

'He still sounds a little dangerous' Neville said 'I mean with this strange power of his and… You know… He could destroy the world just because he's a little angry'

'If this power falls into the wrong hands - ' Hermione said.

'Yeah' Ginny added 'And Tom… I mean You-Know-Who can… you know…' She still didn't like to talk about what had happened in her first year.

'We have to make sure he stays on our side' Hermione decided.

XXX

'The children do have a point, though' Dumbledore said.

'What? That Adam's power can be dangerous!' Anathema asked.

'In the wrong hands, Anathema, it can be _very_ dangerous. The boy has the ability to destroy the world.'

'He would never do it! He could do it just a few months ago, but he wished everything back to normal instead.'

'Indeed,' The headmaster said 'But he is only a child. He does not understand his own power. I am not sure he can fully control it. It is very dangerous when a child is responsible for the whole world.(5)'

'I will keep an eye on him,' Anathema promised.

* * *

(5)He might have been right. But adults are responsible for it and look what's happening…

XXX

What was left of Dumbledore's Army was not much. Calling this small group of people an army sounded a little strange. Quite a few members had already left school, some just quit the DA when they finally got a Defence teacher better than Umbridge. Harry looked at the rest of the group and realised one more person was missing. Where was Luna? Just as he was about to ask the question the door opened. Luna was not alone. Four first-years followed her into the Room of Requirement.


	8. The crying Dragon

_happy birthday to me!_

_happy birthday to me _

_hapy birthday to myseeelf..._

_Ok, whatever, it's my birthday and I should be the one who gets presents, but ok, here's something for you, another chapter of the story..._

**The crying Dragon**

'What the hell is going on here?' Ron asked 'Who are theese kids, Luna?'

'Calm down, Ronald,' Luna answered 'This is Adam. I thought we should - '

'She is right, Ron,' Hermione said.

'OK, but what about the others?'

'They're my friends' Adam said 'Brian, Wensley an' Pepper.'

'She's a Slytherin,' said Ron suspiciously.

'So?' said Pepper.

'You can trust her.' Adam assured him.

'But who said I trust you?' Ron asked. He still didn't like the idea of the eleven-year-old Antichrist joining the DA.

'An' it's much better to have her on your side' Brian added 'than havin' to fight her.'

'All right,' Hermione said, taking a piece of parchment out of her pocket 'But you have to sign the list.'

Nobody knew what curses she had put on the parchment this time. And nobody wanted to find out.

XXX

'Who's the letter from?'

'Aunt Bellatrix'

'What did she write?'

'Not now, Goyle, I'm busy!'

Draco sat in the common room, pretending to study. Anyone more intelligent than Goyle would have noticed that he didn't normally study that much, but then, anyone more intelligent than Goyle understood that Draco just didn't want anyone to disturb him. He was finally left alone and he could think about everything at peace. The letter from Aunt Bellatrix. The Young kid. Life in general.

He had to do something. But what could he do? He would have to apologise to the girl first. Apologise! To a stupid first-year Mudblood! On the other hand this was easier than explaining to his aunt that he couldn't do it. Aunt Bellatrix could be quite scary sometimes. Draco didn't even want to think about what she might do to him if he disappointed her. The idea of someone doing something to him was new to him. For many years punishment had been something that only happened to other people. His parents were very rich and usually bought him everything he wanted(1) and anyone else… For many years Draco had believed nobody could possibly dare hurt a Malfoy. And now, suddenly, his father was in prison, and Aunt Bella wasn't, and Draco's life had turned upside down. Or at least he thought it had. Maybe it was just beginning to turn upside down? Maybe it could be worse? But Draco could not imagine it.

* * *

(1)If they didn't, he just had to ask again. And again, and again. Until his parents finally understood he wouldn't leave them alone until he got it.

XXX

'Pippin?' said Ron suspiciously looking at the four new names added to the list.

'That's me,' Pepper informed him. Her mother had apparently gone temporarily insane when the girl was little and named her Pippin Galadriel Moonchild 'But don't ever call me that!'

'What kind of name is that?' said Ron.

'This wasn't a good idea,' muttered Brian, trying to move away from Ron.

'Don't laugh at my name!' Pepper shouted. And then she proved that it's much better to have her on your side.

'As you can see,' Wensleydale commented 'she's deffinately not evil'

XXX

'Are you sure Draco can handle this… mission?' Narcissa Malfoy asked her sister.

'Of course he can!' said Bellatrix 'What is so difficult about finding some kid, talking to him and ?'

'But he's only fifteen years old!' the mother said.

'Almost sixteen,' Bellatrix reminded her 'He really isn't a child any more!'

'I am his mother, not you.'

'But this is a very easy task,' Bellatrix argued 'He would have to be really stupid to fail' Then she thought about it. She didn't know the boy very well, as she had not seen him for many years, but she knew his father… Yes, Lucius Malfoy's son just might be stupid enough… Damn…

XXX

The Them were eating breakfast with the Gryffindors today. Draco watched them wondering what he can do, but the situation seemed quite hopeless. The four kids were talking to another group of people. The group consisted of Potty, the Weasels, the Granger Mudblood and Longbottom. Draco was not as stupid as his aunt was afraid he might be. He knew what this meant. And it wasn't good.(2)

* * *

(2)That is, if you are a pureblood-obsessed aristocrat. Whatever…

XXX

'Listen, Pepper, I'm really sorry!'

The girl looked at Malfoy. What had happened to him? Was he actually apologizing to her? He wouldn't do that without a reason. She decided he must be up to something. And she was not going to help.

'Yeah? Well, I don't care,' she said 'That doesn't stop you from bein' an idiot, Ferret-face.'

'What did you just call me?' malfoy was shocked.

'Ferret-face,' the girl repeated ' 'Cause that's what you are.' She smiled. He was confused. Whatever he was up to it would be much harder when he was confused.

'W-who told you?' Malfoy asked.

'Everyone knows that!'(3) said Pepper, her grin growing even wider. Malfoy just stood there looking shocked.

'Bye, Ferret!' she said and walked away.

* * *

(3)That is, everyone who remembers the Ferret Incident in Malfoy's fourth year, and the Them,

XXX

Aziraphale continued reading.

_Divided by the decissiounnes of a Hatte,_

_Yette, even the Serpente They can truste._

_And the Dragonne sharl sit down and crye,_

_Whene he sees his mysteyke_

His first thought was that the Serpent was Crowley.(4) Then he remembered there had been something in another prophecy about '_the House of the Serpente'_. He had not really understood that one, but he thought it might be a hint. And who would trust Crowley anyway?

(4)Some people are so good at making things complicated that even an angel can't work it out.

XXX

Draco was running out of ideas. Not that he had many in the beginning, but now he really didn't know what to do.

'Why the hell do you hang around with those losers!' he asked Pepper one day.

'Who're you callin' a loser?'

'Potty and the Weasels.'

The girl laughed. Laughed. At him!

'What's so funny?' he was beginning to lose his temper.

'You, of course,' she said 'I mean, callin' 'em losers a day after you lost that match - '

'I've never had to fly in a rain of fish!' Malfoy exclaimed, thinking that this kid was really irritating. Especially when she was right.

'It didn't only rain fish for you, though,' Pepper reminded him.

XXX

'Can't you see I'm busy, Crabbe?' Draco asked. This was really annoying. he picked up the book he had been pretending to read and left the room. He headed for the library for some peace and quiet. True, he might meet Granger in there, but she was not as annoying as Crabbe, Goyle and other idiots. However the sight of the Young kid and his friends did not help at all. Draco realised that his situation was really hopeless. He could not fulfill the simple task, and he didn't even want to imagine what Aunt Bellatrix was going to do to him when she finds out. His father was in prison, which proved his belief that noone would dare hurt a Malfoy wrong. And Crabbe and Goyle were, if that's even posible, more stupid than ever. He also had some doubts (It always happens to people who begin think too much.) whether the side of the conflict most of his family was on really was the best side to be on. He just didn't know what to do any more.(5) He knew he shouldn't let people see this, but he just couldn't help it. Draco Malfoy started to cry.

* * *

(5)Yet another thing he had never experianced before. There had always been someone who would tell him what to do… no, maybe that's not the best word…(5) someone he agreed with. No matter what they said. But this can become very difficult when you begin to think for yourself

(5)Brainwashed people always believe they are doing what they want to do.


	9. Annoying

** Annoying**_ (Yeah, I know it's a stupid title, but I couldn't think of a better one)_

'That's nothing to worry about, really,' said one of the kids.

'Yeah,' Young added 'this sort of things happen all the time!'

'What things?' Draco asked. This was one of the weirdest things that had ever happened to him. He had started crying in the library and _now_ he was finally talking to Young and the others. But it was not the kind of conversation he had wanted. His aunt was going to be sooo angry…

'Well, you know, parents bein' wrong and suchlike…'

'They're not wrong _all the time_, Adam!' the one wearing glasses argued.

'Well, but they are sometimes. Didn't your dad say there was no such thing as magic, Wensley?'

'Well, he did -'

'And he was wrong!'

'But you don't understand!' Draco said 'I can't just go and tell my mother that I don't want to -'

'Oh, she'll understand,' the girl said ''Cause she's your mother. And she… you know…'

'Loves me?' Draco asked sceptically.

'Yeah, I guess. Mothers usually do,' Young really didn't understand anything, did he?

XXX

'No,' said Narcissa 'Still no news from him.'

'He failed!' Bellatrix shouted 'He failed, I know it! The foolish boy didn't manage to do such a simple thing!'

'Calm down, Bella!'

'HE DIDN'T DO IT!' Bellatrix was still yelling 'If _I_ had a child like this, I would -'

XXX

'How many times do I have to tell you,' said Severus Snape irritably 'that the Dark Lord does not trust me any more! I only know what Narcissa Malfoy told me, and she does not trust me either!'

'It's all right, Severus,' Dumbledore calmed him 'Just tell us again what you have found out.'

'All I know is that Bellatrix Lestrange lives with her now. And that she is very annoying.'

'Tell us something we don't know, Snivellus!' said Sirius Black 'And you say I can't do anything useful, really… '

'I can see a certain similarity between you and your cousin,' if there was one thing Snape was really good at, it was insulting people 'You both have a great talent for getting on people's nerves.'

'What did you say?' said Sirius, standing up.

'Behave yourselves, boys!' interrupted Molly Weasley. As a mother of seven children (most of which were not children any more), she tended to treat everyone who was younger than her as her child. Four of her real sons, Bill, Charlie, Fred and George laughed. Especially the younger two of them were very amused to see their mother shouting at somebody else for a change.

'He started it!'

'No, I didn't!'

'Yes, you did!'

'No, I didn't!'

'Yes, you did!'

'No, I didn't!'(1)

Fred and George were laughing so hard they nearly fell off their chairs. They were beginning to really like those meetings.

'Let us get back to the point,' Dumbledore stopped the argument 'What else did you find out, Severus?'

'As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted-'

'Bellatrix Lestrange is annoying?' said George helpfully.

'And so are you, George Weasley,' Snape added irritably.

'I'm Fred,' said George.

'This is getting old,' Charlie said 'Not even _teachers_ fall for this any more.(2)'

'Can we get back to the point?'

'Certainly, Severus.'

'As I was… Never mind… I believe the problem involved giving young Draco Malfoy some kind of mission. Do not ask me what it was. I do not know.'

George rised his hand.

'Can I say something?' he asked.

'If it's another stupid joke of yours,' said Snape 'no, you can't.'

'No, I meant to ask why is Malfoy the one to do it and not someone else… i don't know… an adult? Why are they giving the mission to a boy at Hogwarts?' Having finished the speech, George sat down and quietly added 'And such a stupid one too.'

'This is a very good question, George' said Dumbledore.

'I'm -' George tried to say, but Fred interrupted him.

'You're annoying,' he said.

'Maybe the task involves something that is kept at Hogwarts?' Tonks suggested.

'But what is it?'

'Some kind of treasure?' Bill asked 'Or maybe a powerfully magical object? Or -'

'Harry!' Sirius exclaimed 'They want to do something to Harry.'

'Tell us something we don't know,' Snape suggested 'The Dark Lord has been trying to lay his hands on Potter for years.'

'I would have said that you're annoying, but we all know that.'

'They might have found out about Adam!' Anathema said 'And that would be really, really bad…'

'Annoying?' Fred suggested.

* * *

(1)Well… sometimes Molly was right about treating people like children…

(2)It is a well-known fact, that when a teacher comes across two people in the same class with the same last name (not necessarily twins), he or she always finds it dificult to learn to tell them apart. In case of identical twins they don't even bother to try and learn it.

XXX

'Don't trust him,' said Ron 'He's up to something -'

'No,' Adam answered (the Them were sitting at the Gryffindor table this time. And even Snape had given up by now.) 'I believe him.'

'Yeah' added Brian 'It was so real… I mean, he just came into the library, sat down an' started to… you know…'

'cry,' Wensleydale finished.

'Yeah,' Pepper added 'an' then he told us about this letter from his aunt an' everything.'

'This is really weird' Hermione said.

'An' he said he just couldn't do what she asked him for,' Adam explained 'but he doesn't wanna tell his aunt either, 'cause he's afraid.'

'I really don't know…' said Harry.

'Crying like that isn't something Malfoy would normally do' Hermione said.

'Yeah,' Ron added 'But he could have done it to -'

At this point Maloy, who was already leaving the Great Hall (And this was not normal either. He usually waited for Crabbe and Goyle.), stopped near their table.

'Potter,' he said 'I need to talk to you.'

They all stared at him in shock. Could this be true?

XXX

On Christmas Day Draco woke up alone in his dormitory. He was happy that everyone else had gone home for the holidays. He didn't normally like to be alone, but this year a lot had changed in his life and he needed a few days without his _annoying_ friends Crabbe and Goyle to think about it.

As usual he found a heap of presents next to his bed. Usually he got dressed before he opened his Christmas presnts, but this time nobody was looking, so he just jumped excitedly out of bed and began to unwrap them.

He was a little disappointed to see that the one from his mother did not contain the broomstick he had asked for, but then, what had he expected after the strange events of the last months? The reason why he had stayed at the school in the first place was that he didn't want to face his angry mother and aunt. Aunt Bellatrix had only sent him a note telling him why he did not deserve to get a present. He wasn't surprised. He opened the usual packages of sweets from Crabbe and Goyle, threw away the present from Pansy (He never opened her presents since the second year, when she had sent him a pink, fluffy teddy-bear with a love letter. Opening that one in front of the other boys had been one of the most embarassing moments of his life.) and noticed that there were still some more. He was quite surprised to find a small flying model of a broomstick from the Them and an unsigned package containing a sweater oddly similar to the ones the Weasleys always got, but green, with a silvery-grey dragon on the front. He stared at it for a moment, as if it was the strangest thing he had ever seen(3), and then he decided to put it on.

* * *

(3)Close enough. It _was_ the oddest present he had ever got. 


	10. Christmas is a Time for the Family

_I'm ill right now, which means I'm stuck at home and have nothing to do. And that means I can finally update the story. It also means: don't blame me for the mistakes in this chapter. blame my fever :P_

**Christmas is a Time for the Family**

_Two sisters sharl fighte,_

_A mothr of a childe and a servant of a Master,_

_A redde lettre sharl screem_

_And the Dargonne sharl be redde,_

_Yette, his minde is made up_

_And nothinge wille change it._

XXX

'This is not Christmas,' Narcissa complained.

'What do you mean?' her sister asked.

'Well, you know, without Lucius and Draco…' said Mrs. Malfoy 'It's just not the same.'

Bellatrix didn't say anything.

'It's your fault,' Narcissa said after a moment of silence 'It's your fault that Draco didn't come home for the holidays.'

'It is his own fault,' Bellatrix argued 'It's not my fault that he couldn't talk to some stupid chilren and -' she suddenly stopped talking. She rolled up her sleeve and looked at the Dark Mark on her arm.

'Master's calling me,' she said.

'He always knows when to call…' said Narcissa sarcastically.

'What am I going to tell him?' Bellatrix said worriedly before she Disapparated. Narcissa just sighed…

XXX

'For Malfoy!' Fred Weasley was shocked 'You actually sent one to _Malfoy_, Mum!'

'Well, you know,' his mother explained 'the poor boy probably didn't get any presents from his family this year.'

'Well, yeah, but, you know what it looks like?' Fred said 'Almost like you think he's on our side, like you… like you trust him…'

'Professor Dumbledore always says you should give everyone a chance,' his father reminded him as he walked into the room.

'We're talking about _Malfoy_, Dad!' George said.

'You know he is having a lot of problems now,' the father said 'Imagine what Lestrange will do to him when he comes back home.'

'Well, he deserves it, doesn't he? For being such a -'

'Look, Fred, he might even switch to our side now…'

'Great joke, Dad!' said Fred and both boys started to laugh.

'It's not funny,' said Mr. Weasley 'It's true.'

Sirus, Kingsley and Tonks stopped their discussion about where the Aurors searching for Sirius should be sent this time.(1)

'It's impossible,' said Tonks 'If Malfoy believes in that pureblood nonsense -'

'I don't think he believes in anything,' Molly said.

'That souds like my brother,' said Sirius.

'I thought he was a Death Eater?' Tonks was surprised.

'He was a coward. Joined them because he thought mother would like it and chickened out when they told him to actually go and do something.'

'And then they killed him?'

'Yes… No… Not exactly. He tried to warn me that there was a traitor in the Order. _Then_ they killed him.'

'Where do you think he would be now,' asked Molly thoughtfully 'if he was alive?'

Nobody answered the question, but they all knew what she meant. Everyone believes in something sooner or later, which just might mean that the most unbelievable thing is about to happen.

* * *

(1)'No, we can't send them to Antarctica! Most of them came back from Tibet with a terrible cold. And besides, do you think anyone will believe that you're hiding in _Antarctica_!'

XXX

The Dark Lord was talking to the small group of Death Eaters. Bellatrix, however wasn't listening to him too carefully. She couldn't concentrate. She looked around nervously, wondering how her Master was going to punish her for the failure at Hogwarts. Of course she was not the only nervous one. Hardly anyone ever felt comfortable in Lord Voldemort's presence.

'Wormtail, I will not give you a new hand if you bite this one off,' the Dark Lord said and a few of his servants laughed when they saw Pettigrew biting his nails.

'I- I'm sorry, Master,' the rat-like man stuttered 'I'm just a little nervous…'

'And why are you so nervous?'

'Uh…' Wormtail wasn't really sure. In his case nervousness was not a feeling, but a feature of character 'The Antichrist, my Lord,' he finally said 'I am worried about what can happen if- if something goes wrong…'

'Nothing will go wrong,' Voldemort assured him 'will it, Bellatrix?'

The woman looked at him, terrified. How angry was he going to be?

'There- there seems to be a little problem, Master' she said.

'A problem?'

'Yes,' she said 'Draco hasn't managed to do it.'

She looked up at her Master again. He really was furious.

'Yet' she added hopefully, but it was too late.

'Crucio' said the Dark Lord pointing his wand at her. Bellatrix screamed with pain and made a mental note to torture Wormtail twice as long as the Master was going to torture her.

XXX

The new term had began and the Great Hall was once again filled with students. Everybody had come back to school after the holidays and it was time to get used, once again, to the fact that you should wake up in the morning and go to bed in the evening, and not the other way around. After breakfast the first lesson of the new term was about to begin. It was time to get back to normal everyday life.

Draco was not very worried about the first lesson. It was the everyday life that frightened him so much. He had realised recently how stupid all this was, with two biggest idiots in the school as his best friends, a task he knew he could not fulfill, a family who would be mad at him if he failed, an eleven-year-old girl who could beat him up and all other problems. And what had he done about it? He had made it all even worse! Why the hell had he decided to do it? Why couldn't he just leave it all the way it was? It was all Young's fault. After that discussion with the Them in the library Draco Malfoy had made the decision that was going to change his whole life. He had become their friend. He was now on their side. And they were on Potter's side. He was now on Potter's side! His enemy had become his friend! This had not been that bad when the school had been nearly empty, during the holidays, but now his old friends were back. His enemy… _their_ enemy was his friend now. Which meant his friends were likely to become his enemies when they find out. And _now_ his life had _really_ turned upside down.

'What are you thinking about?' he heard a voice next to him. He didn't answer.

'Are you OK?' the voice asked again. Draco understood that he had no choice.

'Yeah, I guess,' he said 'why?'

'You were thinking about something' Goyle explained 'and -'

'Just because you never think, it doesn't mean there's something wrong with everyone who does.'

'Uh… all right then.'

'You going to eat this?' Crabbe asked looking at Draco's plate.

'No, you can have it.'

'Thanks.'

'Whatever.'

And then, suddenly Draco's owl flew in and dropped a letter. Not just any letter. A letter in a _red envelope_!

Draco wanted to hide as Aunt Bellatrix's angry voice filled the Great Hall. What a shame! His usually pale face went red as the whole Slytherin table stared at him in shock. His aunt screamed louder and louder, calling him eveything she could think of: a fool, a blood-traitor, a shame to the whole family. Draco didn't listen. Listening to that noise could have damaged his ears really badly. Just trying to imagine such a loud scream could have made him half-deaf.

When it was all over, the Hall seemed incredibly quiet. Everyone was still staring at Draco. He stared back at them, thinking about his situation. He had just received one of the loudest Howlers in the history of the school. Everyone knew whose side he was on now(2). And he wasn't even sure he cared.

* * *

(2)and it was not the safest side to be on for a Slytherin. 


	11. Effects

_No reviews? I hope you haven't forgotten about me or anything... Oh, right, if you have you're not reading this anyway. And if you have... here's another chapter._

_(Yeah, I'm still a little ill...)_

**Effects** _(Couldn't think of a better title again...)_

The other Slytherins were not staring at him any more. Now they were desperate _not_ to look at him. Except for Pepper. She was still looking at him from the Ravenclaw table (between Lovegood and Young), grinning. Was she laughing at him again! Draco panicked. He had lost all his old friends, he knew that. And the new ones were laughing at him! It was all Young's fault again. The kid had apparently played a really nasty trick on him. What was he going to to! He could not go back. Aunt Bellatrix had taken care of that. And where he was heading was apparently a dead end. Was he really all alone now! Young said something to the other Them and they laughed again. Draco nearly started to cry. He managed to stop himself. But he just couldn't take it any more. He stood up, ran out of the Great Hall, headed for his dormitory and decided not to come to class today. If he was alone now, he wanted at least to be alone _on his own_.(1)

* * *

(1)You know, it really _is_ annoying when you're trying to be alone and all the people ale staring at you! 

XXX

'Look at his face!' Pepper was, indeed, laughing at Malfoy. She just couldn't help it. The look of shock on his face really _was_ funny.

'It's not funny!' Luna hissed at her, but she couldn't help smiling herself 'Not for him, I mean.'

'OK,' said Adam 'But look at the others' faces!'

'Goyle _always_ looks like this,' Pepper pointed out.

'No,' Wensleydale argued 'He does close his mouth sometimes.'

'Yeah,' Brian added 'I guess the noise killed his last brain cell.'

'Anyway,' Pepper grinned with satisfaction 'Looks like we're sure we can trust Malfoy now.'

'I'm so proud of him,' said Adam and they all laughed.

A moment later Malfoy got up and ran out of the Great Hall.

XXX

Anathema looked at Dumbledore. She wanted to ask him a question, but wasn't sure what question it was. She noticed that Minerva and Severus were just as shocked as she was. She considered asking one of them what to ask about, but she was too shocked to speak anyway. All she knew was that it had not been just _any_ Howler. It wasn't _only_ one of the loudest Howlers in history either. It was also one of the most important ones.

XXX

'No, you idiot!' Pepper said 'Why would we want to do something like that!'

Draco wanted to answer but she didn't stop talking.

'Why would anyone wanna do it at all?' she asked 'I mean, that'd be really -'

'Well,' he finally managed to interrupt her 'you're Potter's friends,' he said 'Potter and I have always hated each other and…' he hesitated he really didn't know how to say it. He meant to say that Potter just might have a reason to hate him, but he had no experience at all in admitting that he could have done something wrong.

'Yeah, I know,' she said 'Ferret.'

And, once again, she laughed at him. But he finally understood it was different this time.

XXX

'Good morning' he said as he opened the classroom door 'Sorry I'm late.'

'What has happened to you lately, Malfoy?' Professor Snape asked 'If you keep getting late like that, I will be forced to take off points.'

'I -' Draco tried to say something.

'Sit down,' the teacher told him.

Draco headed for his usual seat next to Goyle, but then he thought better of it.

'Can I sit here?' he asked Weasley pointing at the empty chair next to him. He had nothing to lose. In this situation this might even be safer…

XXX

'You don't even have any proof that he -' Narcissa didn't even manage to finish the sentence.

'How else would you explain it?' Bellatrix asked angrily 'This task was too damn easy. He _couldn't_ have failed, unless he didn't even try!'

'There might be a different reason,' said Narcissa uncertainly.

'Then why didn't he come here to explain it!' shouted Bellatrix furiously. Narcissa thought that the best answer would be showing her sister a mirror. Bellatrix Lestrange could be really scary sometimes.

'He is a stupid little blood-traitor if you ask me!' Bellatrix continued her speech 'If he was _my_ son, I would have disowned him!'

'But he's _mine,_' Narcissa reminded her 'And he is the last of the Malfoys.'

'I wouldn't care.'

'Well, I do.'

'You were always like that'

'Like what?'

'Weak and sentimental,' Bellatrix said 'You actually _cried_ at Regulus's funneral!'

'Well, isn't it sad,' Narcissa tried to defend herself 'When someone like him chooses the wrong path?'

'You'd better start crying about your son then,' Bellatrix said and left the room slamming the door loudly.

XXX

'You are late,' Anathema said, as Pepper entered the classroom 'What happened?'

'Sorry,' the girl said 'I had to talk to Malfoy,' her fellow Slytherins laughed but she didn't care 'About that Howler and stuff…'

The class laughed even harder. It was a very difficult lesson for Anathema.

XXX

'As I always say' said Dumbledore 'Most people deserve their second chance.'

'_Most_,' Fred commented 'Not _all._' (2)

'True,' the headmaster agreed 'But I believe that Draco has just proved that he does.'

'See?' said Molly 'I told you.'

'I still can't believe it,' said Sirius 'Narcissa's son…'

'Looks like a family reunion is coming,' joked Tonks 'I will actually meet my cousin Draco.'

'A family reunion… that still sounds kind of strange…'

* * *

(2)some people can't live without something to disagree with. 

XXX

It was a very difficult few months for Draco. He had tried to tell his classmates all sorts of stories about what had made his aunt so angry, but it was no use. She had called him a blood-traitor, and there was no way of explaining to them that she was wrong.(3) He tried to avoid the Slytherin common room and only entered his dormitory to sleep in there. But he still had to meet the other Slytherins in class. And, of course, there was the Quidditch team. He was captain now, but his team had no respect for him at all. They lost ten to two hundred in the match against Hufflepuff because it had been simply impossible to discuss the strategy. Of course, other people blamed him for that.

And then there was the really threatening thought that he would still have to come back home some day. He had stayed at the school during Christmas and he was probably going to spend Easter there as well, but the thought of the summer at the Malfoy Manor terrified him. And then there was the next summer, and another one, and probably quite a large part of the rest of his life. He really didn't want to go back there!

* * *

(3)Of course, the fact that she wasn't did not help. 


	12. The Dragon and the Lion

**The Dragon and the Lion**

_The Lyone of the Serpentes_

_Sharl speek to the Dragonne,_

_And the Dragonne sharl fear no more,_

_For he knowethe whatte is Ryghte…_

Yeah… Something like that, I guess…

XXX

By the time the Easter holidays began, Draco had already made his decission. Or at least he thought he had. Saying 'I'm going to do it' is quite easy compared with actually _doing_ what you have decided to do. And right now he was standing at the door of his house. He had already said 'I'm going to do it' and even that had not been easy for him. And now it was time for the hard part. Draco gathered all his courage(1), knocked on the door and waited.

After a few seconds the door was opened by a house-elf.

'Master Draco!' the ugly little thing squeaked 'Is Master Draco coming back home?'

'Shut up,' Draco told him.

'We has been worried about Master Draco,' the house-elf continued 'Mistress Bellatrix was saying -'

'I said SHUT UP!' Draco interrupted. The house-elf covered its huge ears with its hands and Draco realised that he had made a big mistake.

'What is going on in here!' came his mother's angry voice and a moment later Draco saw his mother herself walking down the stairs.

'H-hello, Mother,' he said uncertainly.

'Draco,' she said 'What do you think you are doing, coming home so suddenly and making a lot of noise?'

'I… er... ' Draco didn't know what to say.

'What's going on!' he heard another voice and then Aunt Bellatrix appeared behind his mother's back. Draco wanted to hide or run but it was too late.

'You!' his aunt shouted and the terrified house-elf ran away covering his ears. Draco wished he could do the same.

'Calm down, Bellatrix,' Mrs. Malfoy said to her sister, but it didn't work.

'What are you doing here, you !'

'I just came to say goodbye to Mother,' said Draco while his aunt was trying to find the right insult for him.

'So it's true?' the mother said, dissappointed. All that time she had hoped her sister might be making a mistake. Now her hope was gone.

'What did you think, Narcissa?'

'I guess I'll just… take some things from my room and go?'

* * *

(1) not that there was much to gather…

XXX

Sirius was up in Buckbeak's room, watching the Hippogriff eat some dead rats. He enjoyed it. The rats reminded him of Wormtail.(2) And besides, the whole world seemed to be going mad lately. This was one of the very few things that were still normal.(4) Well, unless it rained fish outside and he could see it through the window.

'Ah, finally some peace and quiet,' he thought. And then he heard the screams comming from downstairs 'Or maybe not…'

He rushed downstairs to help shut up the crazy portrait of his mother, wondering who the hell had woken her up this time. When he got there, he was quite surprised.

* * *

(2)The last three sentences are dedicated to… hmm… one person I used to think of as my friend, until… well, the whole story is too long, but now I really wouldn't mind seeing her eaten by a Hippogriff…

Couldn't stop myself. Sorry. Yeah, I know I'm an evil psychopath but what can I do about it?(3)

(3)Yeah, I just had to write it…

(4)Or whatever passed for 'normal' in a house that used to belong to a family of Dark wizards, but was now Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, and a hideout for a supposedly dangerous criminal and his Hippogriff.(5)

(5)The author of this fic believes that there are many definitions of 'normal'. There have to be. Otherwise hardly anyone could be 'normal' at all.

XXX

'Told you to watch out!' somebody said, but it was too late. This was worse than Aunt Bellatrix's Howler. The noise was unbearale. For a few minutes Draco wasn't sure what was going on around him. Actually, he had been quite confused _all day_. Or at least since he had knocked on the door of his… well… his _mother's_ house. The most probable version was that he'd had a big row with his mother and aunt, ran to his bedroom, grabbed some of his things, ran outside, caught the Knight Bus, gone to London and found the address Dumbledore had given him. And been yelled at by a portrait for no apparent reason. The most _acceptable_ version was that he was just about to wake up. But somehow he was afraid he was not.

A few moments later Draco found himself sitting at a table in some rather large kitchen, surrounded by people most of whom he didn't know. Quite a lot of those he did know had red hair.

'Don't you know what it means,' asked Fred (or was it George) Weasley 'When I tell you not to touch it?'

'Err…' Draco was still too confused to say anything that made sense.

'Harry and Ron said you'd started to think, Malfoy,' the other one said 'But I guess they were wrong.'

'Fred! George!' their mother shouted (Draco wasn't sure he could take any more shouting that day.)

'Sorry, Mom,' the boys apologised.

The woman still wasn't satisfied.

'Sorry, Malfoy,' one of the boys finally said 'But I still think it was very stupid of you,' he added more quietly. Draco was too exhausted to argue.

'Oh, look at him!' Mrs. Weasley said 'The poor boy is so tired! Somebody show him to his room.'

'All right, follow me… I guess…' said a strange girl with blue hair, standing up. Draco stood up as well and followed her upstairs.

XXX

Draco was very tired but he couldn't fall asleep. He got up again and decided to have a look around his new bedroom. In one corner he saw a rather large box. He opened it and looked inside. There were many different things inside the box, but what intrigued him most was a pile of notebooks. He picked one of them up and sat down on his bed again.

Draco opened the notebook at a random page and began to read:

_Dear Diary,_

_I don't want to sound like my brother, but right now I really hate family traditions. Especially the one about naming children after stars. This is sooo stupid! I mean, really… Regulus! You know what constellation my star is in? Leo! The Lion! Has my mother gone mad?_

…

_Well, maybe she has, but it still doesn't give her the right to do this to me!_

_Had Astronomy today. My first Astronomy lesson at Hogwarts. And of course now everybody knows about it. It really sucks to be in Slytherin and have a name like that!_

_RB_

'Interesting…' was Draco's last thought before finally falling asleep.

XXX

Draco stared at the small dark point on his mother's family tree where his name had probably been only this morning. It felt strange. And a little sad.

'What's wrong?' somebody asked him. He turned around and saw the same girl who had showed him to his room (except her hair was now pink).

'Nothing, really…'

'Oh, you can tell me!' she insisted 'I'm Tonks, by the way,' she added a moment later 'Thought you should know me.'

'Why?'

'Hmm… Well, I'm not anywhere on it' she said looking at the tree 'but my Mom was here,' she pointed at a dark spot similar to his own. Draco stared at her. 'And you are' Tonks continued. And suddenly stopped when she saw it too.

'Here,' Draco showed her what was left of his name on the tree.

'When did this happen?' she wondered.

'Today, I guess. It's kind of strange…' he said.

'It's nothing to worry about!' she told him.

'It means I don't have a family now…' said Draco quietly.

'Nonsense!' Said Tonks happily 'Remember what I told you?'

He stared at her, for a moment feeling just as confused as he had been the moment he had arrived.

'Welcome home, cousin!' she said, laughing at the look of shock in his face.

XXX

Regulus Black had apparently kept a diary for many years. Draco opened and closed a few notebooks until he finally found what he was looking for. This one was half empty and, apparently, written in 1981. Draco found the last entry.

_Dear Diary,_

_I've made a decission today. Must be the first time in my life. I have decided that I just can't do it. And I won't! Or, even worse than that, I will go to his house like they told me to. But I will not kill him. Now I know hat would be very wrong. Instead I will warn him. I'll tell him what the Dark Lord is up to. People will proably say I didn't do it because I was scared. it's not true! _

_I remember my first Astronomy lesson at Hogwarts. The Lion. I hated it back then. All the people laughing at me, asking if I'm sure I'm in the right house… The Lion…_

_Now, what I'm about to do might be the last thing I will ever do. But I am not scared… At least, not very much… They asked for it. Just this one last time in my life I will actually be the Lion._

_Lions are not scared._

_I'm not scared…_

_am I?_

'Lions are not scared.' Draco thought about what he had read.

'Lions are not scared,' he thought 'and neither are Dragons. Thank you, Reg.'


	13. The Battle of Tadfield

_Hellooo? Remember me? Yeah, it's me again. Still a littleill, but getting better now._

_(Oh yeah, in case you want to know. It's actually **true** about Regulus. Which proves just exactly **how** crazy Mrs. Black was :P poor Regulus)_

**The Battle of Tadfield**

_In Taddes Field they sharl finde Him_

_And there sharl be fyghting,_

_And many sharl ride in the skye,_

_And one sharl fall,_

_And Othyr Four sharl ride, alfo,_

_Untyll they finde whatte they be searchinge for._

_Whatte was Lost sharl be Founde,_

_Whatte was unknown sharl be reveeld_

_And the Ratte sharl crye,_

_While the Hounde runneth Free_

_And everythinge sharl be Alle Ryghte…_

At least that's what Nutter said. And she hasn't been wrong yet, has she? Right now, however, nothing seemed as if a great battle was approaching. It was a beautiful spring day in Lower Tadfield…

XXX

It was a beautiful spring day in Lower Tadfield. The sky was blue, the grass was green, the gardens were full of flowers. It looked as if nothing unusual, and, most certainly, nothing unusual in a _bad_ way could possibly happen today (1). The yellow-clad Tibetan in an underground tunnel under the town could hear it too. Or actually, he _couldn't_ hear anything apart from the singing birds, the laughing children and other sounds of a perfectly normal beautiful spring day.

'Oh well,' he thought 'I guess nothing's gonna happen today.'

How very wrong he was…

* * *

(1)At least not in Lower Tadfield. But when bad things are just happenning far away, you can always turn off the TV and look out of the window.

XXX

'Damn you, Draco!' muttered Bellatrix as she and some other Death Eaters walked through Lower Tadfield. She didn't like the cheerful atmosphere at all. It's just not the same, kidnapping someone on a beautiful spring day. And, since the Antichrist did not want to join them, plan B was to kidnap him and force him to work for them anyway. Why couldn't it be a dark and stormy night?

'What is it?' somebody asked her.

'Shut up or I'll curse you!' she said.

'But if I scream, everybody will hear us.' Said the other Death Eater reasonably.

'Silencio. Crucio,' Bellatrix grinned evilly as he fell noiselessly to the ground, unable to scream 'Thanks for reminding me,' she said. Now, this was better. But the bright sun still made her nervous. Why couldn't it be a dark and stormy night?

XXX

Anathema looked terrified as she fell out of the fireplace.

'What happened, dear?' molly asked her.

'They've got Adam…' she panted 'Lower Tadfield… Quick…'

There were a few minutes of chaos and then all Order-members present at the Headquarters began to Disapparate. Except for Sirius, who still couldn't Apparate. He got on the bike and headed for the nearest window.

'Are you sure you can do it?' Molly asked 'Remember what happened last time…'

'It could have happened to anyone,' he told her and set off for Lower Tadfield.

XXX

'What was that all about?' Draco asked.

'The Death Eaters have found Adam,' Granger explained 'And, as his power can be very dangerous in the wrong hands -'

'All right, all right,' said Draco impatiently 'I get it. I'm not that stupid, really!'

'Are you sure?' Ron Weasley teased him.

'There's no time for this, Ron!' Granger told him.

'Can we do anything?' Ginny Weasley asked.

'We _have to_ do something!' Potter said. Draco didn't like the way he had said it. He really meant it, didn't he?

'But _how_ can we do anything?'Draco asked 'I mean, we don't even know where he is'

The others stared at him. He actually had a point.

XXX

'I'll see what I can do' said Neville 'But I don't think Gran will let me go.'

'Just try, all right?' Luna told him 'Adam needs our help.'

'Sure.' He said 'Of course I will. Lower Tadfield, right?'

'Yes,' said Luna and dissappeared from the fireplace before Neville's grandmother walked into the room.

XXX

Malfoy had a point. For the first time since his arrival he had said something that actually made sense. They could not save Adam because they didn't even know where he was.

'It's ok, Harry,' Hermione said 'The Order will take care of it.'

'I hope so,' said Harry 'But… I don't know…'

And then, suddenly the flames in the fireplace turned green and out fell Luna.

'Adam needs help!' she announced.

'We know,' said Harry miserably 'But we don't know where he is.'

'I do,' Luna told them.

A moment later Harry, Ron, Ginny and Malfoy were already sitting on their brooms. As there weren't enough brooms for all of them, Luna and Hermione decided to fly on Buckbeak.

'Follow us!' shouted Luna flying out of the window.

XXX

There were all sorts of noises coming from the surface. Shouting and screaming mostly, but sometimes he could also hear a small explosion.

'What the hell is going on up there?' thought the Tibetan. This was a very good question. Especially the part about _hell_. How very _right_ the Tibetan was this time. Lower Tadfield _was_ turning into hell and even turning the TV _on_ and _not_ looking out of the window could not help.

XXX

'You _won't_ come back this time!' shouted Bellatrix Pointing her wand at Sirius. She had almost forgotten about the sun. They were fighting again. She felt so much better. Until she heard a familiar voice behind her.

'Hello, Auntie!' shouted Draco passing her on his broomstick, his wand pointing at her.

'You!' she shouted 'You!'

She wanted to curse the boy, but before she decided what curse to use, she was hit by a spell herself. It was just a simple Expelliarmus, but it came from the most unexpected direction: right above her head.

Neville was terrified. He had never flown that far on a broomstick. Or so fast. In fact he had only been on a broomstick twice and both times had reaulted in accidents. But this time was different. He felt so wonderful! Well, almost… He saw the people down there fighting. He knew he had to join them. To save Adam. To save the world. And then he noticed Bellatrix Lestrange trying to curse Malfoy. He had to stop her! He disarmed her. And then he fell off his broom.

XXX

The Four Other Bikers were riding through some small town. Big Ted was a little annoyed by the fact that he had to sit on the back of Pigbog's bike, but, well, if this was the only way. And it probably was. If he wanted to get his own bike back, he had to find it. And kick that bastard's ass for stealing it… But find him first…

XXX

The young Auror was very, very worried. He and the others had been sent to this town because of somebody using magic here, where all the Muggles could see it. _A lot_ of magic. Mostly curses. If it was true about You-Know-Who's return, this was very likely to mean the worst.

'Why me?'(2) the Auror thought, but before he could think about the answer, he saw it. There was something going on. It looked nearly like a battle.

* * *

(2)Of course, he had always known it was a dangerous job. But he had just hoped it would be a little less dangerous than _that_… 


	14. Everything will be All Right

_This is the last chapter. II's idea of a happy ending. Hope you like it._

**14. Everything will be all right**

Quite a lot of things happened at the same time. First of all, while everybody else was busy fighting, Hermione and Luna freed Adam and helped him climb onto the Hippogriff's back(1). Neville landed on the ground with a loud crash, and the broom he had arrived on got stuck in a tree. Wormtail tried to stay out of the whole fight. Sirius… well… didn't let him. The Four Other Bikers spotted Big Ted's bike parked nearby, but weren't quite sure what to do about the whole crowd around it. A group of Aurors made quite a shocking discovery.

* * *

(1)of course, in the general atmosphere of chaos nobody noticed a Hippogriff. Weirder things were flying around at the moment. Neville on a broom for example.

XXX

The last few crashes and explosions and then everything calmed down just a little bit. The Tibetan listened.

'That's him all right! That bugger who took my bike!'

'And the bike's over there too, it is.'

'You, there!'

'Err…'(2)

'Yeah, you.'

'The bike, right? I'm really sorry for that, I – Dot't move, Peter!'

'mimblewimble…'

'I might actually enjoy _walking_ home after all this is sorted out.'

'Home? I don't think that's where you're going, Black!'

'_Ohshitohshitohshit_…'

'No! You're making a mistake!'

'What do you mean!'

'Oh! Right! Before you arrest me, I think you should meet someone.'

'Ouch!'

'Say hello, Peter…'

'Oh my…' the rest of the sentence was too quiet for the Tibetan to hear.

'Yes, it really is him.'

'He's trying to escape!'

'Stupefy!'

Boom.

The Tibetan was too confused to listen to it any longer.

* * *

(2)Can't get into any more trouble, eh?

XXX

'Neville Longbottom, what do you think you're doing!' Mrs. Longbottom shouted at her grandson as he landed in the garden. On a Hippogriff! With two gilrs sitting next to him! And some people on broomsticks flying behind them!

'He saved my life, Mrs. Longbottom!' shouted one of the boys on broomsticks. The woman looked at him. And she was shocked. What on Earth – or even fifteen feet above it – was Draco Malfoy doing here? The others (including Harry Potter and some of the Weasleys) landed in the garden next to the Hippogriff(3) and began to explain. Mrs. Longbottom fainted before they managed to finish.

* * *

(3)Malfoy landed a little farther from it. Buckbeak hadn't seen him for at least three years now, but he probably still didn't like him…

XXX

Back at school again a group of people at the Gryffindor table were talking about what had happened a few days before in Lower Tadfield. Malfoy, Luna and the Them had joined them of course.

'So, what d'you think is going to happen next?' Adam asked.

'Well, as soon as it's all sorted out at the Ministry,(4)' Hermione said 'Everyone will know the truth at last, I guess.'

'Sirius will be free at last' said Harry happily 'And Wormtail will probably get he Dementor's Kiss.'

'What,' Pepper asked 'they will ?'

'Suck out his soul, yes,' Hermione said.

'If he even has one,' said Ron 'Stupid rat.'

'And You-Know-Who will probably stay away from you for a while,' Ginny told Adam, ignoring her brother's comment.

'Like Professor Lupin said,' Hermione added 'Everything will be all right at last.'

'That man's unbelievable, really!' Draco said 'I mean, with his… disease… er… problem… well, you know what I mean, and with so many of his friends gone...and everything… And he still tells us it will be all right.'

'Yeah,' said Hermione 'So I think he knows what he's talking about. It really _is _going to be all right. He wouldn't say so if it wasn't!'

'Yeah!' said Ron enthusiastically 'We might even defeat You-Know-Who someday…'

'Probably not,' said Adam 'I don't think anyone'll ever win. 'Cause then the world'd be all good or all bad. There'd be nothing to fight for any more.'

Luna was the first one to understand his strange logic.

'And nothing to live for,' she said. Hermione wasn't quite sure she agreed. If there was no Dark Lord left to defeat, she would just have more time for the S.P.E.W. But then, what was she going to do after she freed all the house-elves?

'Right,' she finally said 'We can't defeat all evil. We just won't let the evil defeat us either.'

'Sounds like a good plan,' said Adam, smiling at her.

'And then it _will_ be all right… As all right as real life can ever be.'

* * *

(4)The wizarding law isn't really much better than the Muggle one. It might still take some time.

XXX

In stories the good guys usually win and the bad guys get the punishment they deserve. Life, however, is not a story. Wormtail had managed to avoid punishment for fifteen years. And when he finally got caught and the truth about him was revealed, he did not receive the Dementor's kiss(5). At the moment he was sitting in his cell, guarded by one of the few Dementors that had not joined the Dark side, thinking of the worst moments of his life. The furious Dark Lord torturing him with the Cruciatus curse. The long, humiliating years of being the Weasleys' pet rat. The loneliness in the beginning of his first year at Hogwarts, before he made friends with Remus, Sirius and James. The angry Dark Lord again. And then, for some reason, the day he had given away the Potters' wherebouts to the Dark Lord.

'Where did that come from?' he asked himself. And then, suddenly he understood. And he started to cry.

* * *

(5)Noone would like to kiss Wormtail. Not even a Dementor.

XXX

SQUEAK, said something in the darkness near his foot. He looked at it. It was a tiny figure in a black cloak, holding a miniature scythe in its hand.

'Is-is it really _that_ bad?' Wormtail asked.

SQUEAK.

He was not surprised that he understood everything the thing was trying to tell him.

'So what happens to me now?' he asked as the little scythe cut him off from his hanging body.

SQUEAK! EEEK, EEK, SQUEAK, the small creature said irritably.

'B-back to my real shape?' Wormtail stuttered 'Wha-what do you mean?'

SQUEAK.

Wormtail transformed for the last time.

'Squeak?' he said timidly, and he followed the Death of Rats to some kind of rodent hell.

XXX

So everything _was_ all right. In Lower Tadfield. In London. At Hogwarts. Even in Little Whinging, where it had finally stopped raining fish and Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were enjoying a _perfectly normal day_. It probably wasn't even so bad wherever Wormtail went. Rodents are not creative enough to imagine torture, so the rat was just very, very bored. Not much of a punishment for someone who only ever wanted to avoid any risk and never really liked too much excitement anyway.(6)

Real happy endings only ever happen in stories and life is not a story. But everything was… as all right as real life could ever be. Adam thought about it all and smiled…

* * *

(6)as Death always says, THERE IS NO JUSTICE. ONLY ME.

XXX

…and then he suddenly woke up. In his own bedroom, in his house in Lower Tadfield. The book he'd been reading last night was still lying on the floor. It was still summer. Had it all been a dream? Adam couldn't believe it now. Hogwarts had seemed so real. And the people he had met there. They couldn't have been only a part of his dream. They were his friends!

But, apparently, everything _was_ back to normal after all. He was just an ordinary boy and he'd better get used to it. He sighed and looked out of the window.

And there, on the window-sill, sat an owl…

THE END…

_Or is it?_


End file.
